The first time Ed Wade fired a manager and hired another, the city of Brotherly Love practically greeted his choice with a collective embrace for Larry Bowa, who couldn't lead the club to the playoffs and eventually was fired. Soon after, Wade admitted he considered firing Terry Francona the worst mistake of his career.

Once Bowa was let go after the 2004 season, Francona marched the Boston Red Sox to their first World Series title since 1918, slaying the Curse of the Bambino.

Back in Philadelphia, Wade was getting his second crack at hiring a manager. He picked Charlie Manuel, a choice lampooned as a country bumpkin as Philadelphia Phillies followers lived up to their reputation as among the nastiest in America.

A popular choice isn't the right one. Wade's unpopular choice was the one who had a team honored with a championship parade right down Broad Street last year.

Just like Manuel had been a special assistant to Wade in Philadelphia for a couple years when he emerged as a candidate and ultimately the Phillies' manager, Pedrique has been one of the top special assistants with the Astros.

Moreover, Pedrique meets the only criteria the club has stressed firmly: past managerial experience in the majors or minors. He's done it at both levels.

Clark is the only confirmed candidate, but Wade and Tal Smith began considering candidates to replace Cooper before they fired him Monday. On Wednesday, Wade presented names of potential candidates to Smith and Astros owner Drayton McLane.

“We just talked in generalities,” Wade said. “But nothing of great consequence took place. I presented some names to (McLane) and Tal. We didn't get a lot of time to talk about it. It was really a first look at things. We'll continue to discuss names going forward. … We're in the process at this point of putting names together and establishing a criteria.”

Popularity overrated

On Tuesday, Lance Berkman scoffed at the potential of the Astros hiring “a retread manager.” Retread is in the eyes of the beholder, but one might consider that so-called retreads are leading the National League Central (Tony LaRussa of the St. Louis Cardinals), the NL East (Manuel of the Phillies) and the NL West (Joe Torre of the Dodgers). Oh, and the NL wild card leaders in Colorado are led by Jim Tracy, who managed the Dodgers and Pirates before eventually becoming a bench coach with the Rockies in 2004.

A close examination of the folks Wade interviewed when he hired Manuel in Philadelphia leads one to believe that his eventual list might be full of candidates with a wealth of experience.

“We interviewed guys that had previous managerial experience at the minor and major league level,” Wade recalled. “It was clear there was a groundswell of support for Jim Leyland. I had to make a decision that was in the best interest for the club.

“We were going to select the right guy for Philadelphia. It didn't make Grady Little the wrong guy. It didn't make Terry Pendleton the wrong guy.”

With that in mind, it's clear Clark meets the criteria because of his success and experience at the minor-league level. Tim Bogar, the first base coach of the Red Sox, also qualifies, and he'll likely come with a strong recommendation from Francona, whom Wade respects tremendously.

“It's safe to say we would prefer to have a manager who has extensive experience at the minor league level or managerial experience at the major and minor league level,” Wade said. “It's important with this selection to bring somebody in who has managerial experience. We're going to end up with a lot of candidates, people expressing interest. It's important for us to focus on guys who meet the criteria that we have set.”

Can't please everyone

Surely, some of those will be popular in some precincts and unpopular in others, whether in the media or the clubhouse. Yet, history shows that Wade won't worry about that.

He didn't in Philadelphia, and Manuel turned out fine. Moreover, his popular pick Bowa never helped the team reach the playoffs, and a lack of playoff berths was partly responsible for Wade being fired. The team he built got to the postseason in 2007 and eventually won the World Series in 2008.

“No decision is going to be universally saluted,” Wade said. “The exercise isn't to try to find a guy everybody embraces. That's mission impossible. The task is to find the right guy for our club today and the years to come.”

That search is on in earnest.

“I thought we made some pretty good progress internally and we have some more internal steps before we get to the point of talking to people or asking permission,” he said.